As your body ages, you can expect
gradual changes, at your body's own pace. How your body ages depends in part on
your family (genetic) patterns of aging. But your lifestyle choices have a more
powerful impact on how well your body ages. Fortunately, you can control your
lifestyle choices.

Some
of the following changes may apply to you. Others may not. A healthy lifestyle may slow
many of these normal effects of aging.

Skin. With
age, the skin becomes less elastic and more lined and wrinkled. Fingernail
growth also slows. The oil glands gradually produce less oil, making the skin
drier than before. You can slow skin aging by using moisturizer and protecting
the skin from the sun with sunscreen and sun-protective clothing, such as a hat
or cap.

Height. By age 80, it's common to have lost as much as
2 in. (5 cm) in height. This
is often related to normal changes in posture and compression of joints, spinal
bones, and spinal discs.

Hearing. Over
time, changes in the ear make high-frequency sounds harder to hear and changes
in tone and speech less clear. These changes tend to speed up after age
55.

Vision. Most people in their 40s
develop a need for reading glasses as the lenses in the eyes become less flexible (presbyopia). It's also
normal for night vision and visual sharpness to decline. Also in the later years, glare
increasingly interferes with clear vision. Vision changes can affect your ability to drive safely. For more information, see: